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Open: October 9, 2026 — Closes: October 22, 2026
Summary
You will serve as a Biological Science Technician (Fish) with US Fish and Wildlife Service. This position will support fish tagging, data collection, and data analysis efforts to measure the movement, growth, post-release survival, wild recruitment, and the general efficacy of salmon and trout stocking programs in the Great Lakes.
Major Duties
Some of the major duties you will perform include but are not limited to the following: Conduct fishery assessments in the Great Lakes. Interact with the public to collect and record biological, environmental, and spatial data, and collect biological specimens (e.g., scales, otoliths, tissue samples) from angler-caught fish at Great Lakes boat landings, streams, fish cleaning stations, weirs, fishing tournaments and other venues. Assist with the preparation and organization of all necessary equipment for data collection activities. Laboratory processing of biological specimens collected during fishery surveys, including but not limited to 1) dissection of fish snouts to recover coded-wire tags from tagged fish, 2) reading and recording coded-wire tag numbers under a scope, 3) pressing fish scales into acetate slides, and encasing, cutting, and polishing otoliths, to prepare for age estimation analysis, and 4) data entry and validation. Assist with coded-wire tagging operations in federal and state fish hatcheries. Duties when on such missions include clipping fins and tagging fingerling fish by hand, loading fish from hatchery raceways into the AutoFish tagging trailer, and assisting with other tasks. Estimate the age of untagged fish from calcified structures (e.g., scales, otoliths, dorsal spines, maxillae) collected during fishery surveys. Assist biologists with management, organization, and quality control of biological databases using geographic information systems and other software (e.g., Survey123, ArcGIS Pro, Microsoft Excel/Access). Assist with creating and managing data platforms in the ArcGIS suite (e.g., Dashboards, StoryMaps). Assists with biological data analysis and writing of reports, data summaries, outreach materials, and other published products, and distributes products within FWS and to outside partner agencies. Duties will be developmental in nature when filled below the full performance level.
